9 replies to this topic

[grahama]

Hi all,

Sorted my new / old loom today and labelled it up. Fitted my old fusebox and noted that the fuses were 17A 12A 12A and 15A. It is an 83 998 and I thought the fuses were much higher 35A 25A 25A and 15A (Haynes) .

Any ideas why mine were lower???

Graham

ps I have used search but not found an answer to be honest

Edited by grahama, 22 September 2012 - 09:11 PM.

[Noah]

Probably just previous owner put in the wrong fuses? Mine had a blade fuse shoved in, LOL.

[AVV IT]

Your fuse box hasn't been replaced with an after market blade fuse version has it?

Blade fuses are rated differently to the traditional glass fuses that were fitted to classic minis as standard. It's therefore common practice to fit blade fuses of approximately half the equivalent glass fuse rating when converting over to a blade fuse box.

[Noah]

Your fuse box hasn't been replaced with an after market blade fuse version has it?

Blade fuses are rated differently to the traditional glass fuses that were fitted to classic minis as standard. It's therefore common practice to fit blade fuses of approximately half the equivalent glass fuse rating when converting over to a blade fuse box.

Nope, mine had all glass fuses but one shoved into the fuse box, or do you mean grahama?

[AVV IT]

I meant "grahama", in that he has a fuse box filled mostly with fuses of around half the standard rating

[Ethel]

I think i'd replace them to be safe.

They should be Lucas fuses, with the numbers being the "blow" rating. If they are none standard, without any other markings they might not even be for 12 volts.

Blade fuses are rated "continuous" i.e. the amount of current they handle in normal use. That's typically half the blow rating, but there's no equivalent for some of Lucas fuses (35A for one) and having a fuse that's a bit over rated can be more dangerous as it'll heat up & die slowly rather than blowing quickly & safely.

Wikipedia has a good entry for fuses.

[grahama]

Hi all,

Done some more digging and this is what I have ...







And the wire runs that I have traced are as follows ...



The power take offs are a little odd. for example the heater power canle goes from fusebox to steeromng column plug and then to blower, but is also joined to something else. It seems as though the steering column plug is merely a joint !! Also the flasher power from fusebox could also go to the reversing switch but it is hard to trace ????

I will put the fuses to 35@ (1-2) 25A (3-4) 25A (5-6) and 15A (7-8) as they should be.


Also, I have the headlight switch powered from two wires, red and brown from terminal 8 on the fuse box. I take it the brown is in the wrong place and needs to be a permenant live feed ??


Any thoughts on how the fuse box is set up???


Graham

Edited by grahama, 23 September 2012 - 08:43 AM.

[tiger99]

Yes, the feed for the lights is brown, and as you suspoect must be permanently live, so it comes direct from the live terminal on the solenoid. I will mention this again, as although you have grasped the idea, someone will be along with incorrect information, they always are. You MUST NOT have a fuse in the headlight circuit, it is illegal and dangerous. But you certainly can fuse each lamp seperately, which is how it is done on modern cars, however the fuses will need to be downstream of the dip switch and so you would need four of them.

There is no easy way of knowing the entire history of your car, or any other for that matter, and it certainly seems that at some stage the wiring has been improperly modified. I suggest that you find the nearest wiring diagram to the configuration of your car (e.g. correct number of instruments) in the Haynes manual, and use that for guidance. The wire colour codes will be consistent on all Minis.

Have fun!

Edited by tiger99, 23 September 2012 - 03:12 PM.

[matt615]

I would have a closer look at your fuses. Often they are marked with a continuous and a blow rating.

For example your fuse that says 17A. Spin it round and I suspect you will find it has the word 'continuous' followed by '35A blow'. In which case your fuses may well be correct.

[grahama]

Hi all,

Feeling abit silly to be honest, the fuses were correct but showing the continuous rating, and as you said, just needed to spin them round , doh !!!

a flick through myold loom stripping notes cross referenced to Haynes, and looking at the newish loom I have connected the light switch to the perm live from the solonoid, as I suspected, but always nice to have confirmed.

As for the lights then they should be perm live without a fuse inline as the thich blue wires do not touch the fuse box at all. However, the sidelights are fed using the red (switched live) wire to the bottom fuse in the box. This seems consistant with my old loom and Haynes so must be ok / legal ????

Un taping the loom is providing more information for me to source the cable routes and check that all is indeed there, but there seems to be enough cables for all the ancillaries.

I will be making notes extensively so when I have problems I can read it all back lol.

Thanks again,

Graham